All Good Things Start With Ice Cream
by TriplePirouette
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin had a problem. A very large one, in fact, despite stemming from something very, very small. Foof. Gold with a little girl :


**All Good Things Start with Ice Cream**

By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Summary: Rumpelstiltskin had a problem. A very large one, in fact, despite stemming from something very, very small. That very, very small something was, at this moment, attempting to reach Geppetto's puppet-parents from the shelf to have them join her tea party in the back room of his shop.

Feedback PLEASE at: triplepirouettephile (at) hotmail (dot) com Or just hit the little button there.

AN: I opened my ask box to prompts for getting over 25 followers on Tumblr. From craw 101: **Rumbelle: Because the latest fic in your Breathe Symphonies series has left me heartbroken (in a good way!), how about an AU where Rumpel and Belle actually do have a little one running about? I crave some happy, domestic stuff after all the war has done to punch me in the heart. (Congrats on 27 followers!)** While technically my head cannon says they can't/won't/shouldn't have kids, I couldn't say no to the prompt! Also inspired by a review from where someone commented that they love the idea of Gold with a daughter. Me too :)

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><p>Rumpelstiltskin had a problem. A very large one, in fact, despite stemming from something very, very small.<p>

That very, very small something was, at this moment, attempting to reach Geppetto's puppet-parents from the shelf to have them join her tea party in the back room of his shop. "Ah ah ah!" He tutted, pulling the enchanted people out of her grasp. In her defense she just thought they were dolls, but he still couldn't let her play with them. "What have I said?" Her tiny little lip pouted out, reminding him so much of her mother (who was currently helping with a book fair at the school and hence unable to watch their little girl for the day) that he found it hard to resist her. He stood strong, however, gently moving the puppets to a higher shelf. "Well?"

For five she was incredibly bright, and had the potential to be even more clever and sly than he was... the potential, in reality, to be quite the adorable problem for both him and Belle. It was the reason he was so strict with her... when he could muster the wherewithal against that adorable face. "No playing with the shop's stuff." She put her hands on her hips and looked up at him. "But you're busy and I want to have a tea party! How can I have a tea party without guests?"

She is so earnest, so serious, it's hard for him to not smile down and abandon everything he'll be doing today for her. He manages to keep his lips in a small smirk and look down at least somewhat sternly. "That is a very good point. It doesn't excuse you from not following the rules."

She looks down, hands behind her back. "I'm sorry, Papa."

He does smile then, bending to kiss the crown of her head and tousling the messy ponytail there. "Forgiven, my darling." He bends down to get eye to eye with her, careful not to let his face twinge when he feels pain in his leg. "How about we make a deal?"

Her eyes light up- his little girl knows that her Daddy's deals always benefit her. "Okay."

Gold reaches out, straightening her blue sundress. "I have one customer coming in this morning that I have some very serious business with. Once I'm done with that, we'll close the shop and go anywhere you like."

She regards him with a very serious face. "It's Wednesday."

He smiles. "Yes, my love."

She tips her head, looking so like her mother. "Mama and I usually go to the park on Wednesdays."

He stands, holding out his hand for her to take. "So the park, then?"

She puts her tiny little hand in his and follows when he heads to the back room. She looks up at him, still pondering as if this is the most important decision she will ever make. "No, I don't think so. We should go someplace we don't go ever."

He turns and pulls out the tiny chair to the small desk set that's back there just for her. "That sounds like a good idea. Where would you like to go?"

She sits in her chair like the princess she is, watching him as he walks to the other side of the room and opens an unmarked drawer. "Well, we should start with ice cream."

He turns back, smiling and carrying a sketch pad and box of crayons. "Should we?"

"Yes. All good things start with ice cream. I haven't decided what we should do after that." She takes the proffered gift and smiles at him as the bell on the front of the shop rings.

He leans down and whispers happily, "You think, I'll be right out front." She nods happily, already pulling out a rainbow of crayons and laying them out before her. He stands and turns away from her, pasting a serious look on his face. Loans are due, after all, and everything comes with a price.

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><p>From the moment Belle told him she was pregnant, he knew he was in trouble. A tiny, wee one made from them, full of bravery and theatricality and cunning? No good could come of that. Every move he made, every loan he called in, every step in sunny little Storybrooke had been made with a very specific goal in mind: make sure he had the power, and that everyone was afraid of him.<p>

Gold had been doing a very good job of intimidating the man across the counter from him with a soft, cool voice. He'd been given a loan, and it was due. Nothing too special, no magic involved. In the old country he was a poor farmer, here he was a simple construction worker hoping to save his home from foreclosure.

Until she came out.

"Papa, Papa, Papa!" Her voice tiny and quick and so happy that it shattered the tension in the air.

He closed his eyes tightly. "Papa's busy right now, love."

She's slipped behind the counter, her tiny head barely visible to the man across from him. "I just wanted to show you my picture." She's tugging on his jacket, trying to get him to look at her. He can't deny her anything.

He tips his head to his customer, begging indulgence as he looks down. "Quickly, dear."

She smiles widely and slaps the paper on the counter so that everyone can see, her pudgy little fingers pointing. "That's a rainbow, and this is our back garden. That's me having a tea party!"

Gold looks at the childish stick figures and has to fight to avoid smiling. He'll gush over the picture later, he has to uphold some sort of dignity in this moment. He sees two stick figures, both with triangles that pass for dresses and globs of gold that are likely tiaras. "And that's you and Mama?"

She giggles that special kind of giggle that he's come to know as a harbinger of trouble. "No! That's you, Papa! It's a princess tea party, so you had to dress like a princess."

He gulps audibly, running his hand over his face. He knows that deep down, he has a very, very big problem on his hands. The man across the counter from Mr. Gold is very wisely trying to hide his laughter. He clears his throat and looks at the man as steadily as he can. "I believe our business is done for today."

The debtor tries to speak, but can't hold his composure and talk at the same time, so he nods and escapes the Pawn Shop as quickly as he can. The little bell above the door rings in the quiet. It is the sound of Gold's reputation shattering.

His little girl tugs at his jacket again. "Papa?" Her voice is soft. "Don't you like my picture?"

He sighs, deep and resigned, tipping his cane to rest behind him. He grasps her about the waist and lifts her to sit on the counter next to her drawing. He looks into her tiny blue eyes, so worried and confused, and his heart melts. "I love your picture. I would just prefer..." He strokes her cheek and smiles, "Papas do not belong in princess dresses, my love. That was, very silly."

She smiles and giggles up at him. "Got it. No dresses." She nods smartly then looks around the empty shop. "Was that the man you had important business with?"

He clears his throat, thinking of how that meeting had ended. He nods, his lips pressed tight, thinking of the whispered gossip that will go around the next few days. "Yes, yes it was."

She looks up at him, smiling hard. "And it's done?"

He can't hold back the laugh of irony sitting in the back of his throat. "Oh yes."

"Good!" She holds out her arms so he'll lift her down from the counter. "Then we can go for ice cream."

Gold looks at his daughter, wiggling her fingers at him, and knows that he is in deep, deep trouble. He lifts her, holding her tight for as long as his leg will allow, kissing her cheek soundly before putting her down. "Yes, time for ice cream." His reputation may be shattered, but he doesn't care.

He's taking his daughter for ice cream.


End file.
